Can John W Henry really save Liverpool FC?

John W Henry, the new owner of Liverpool FC, has been hailed as the club's "knight in a shiny suit". But can he really save English football's fallen giant?

"Some people think football is a matter of life or death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that." That famous quote, from Liverpool's most celebrated manager, Bill Shankly, took on extra resonance in the drama of last week's High Court penalty shoot-out for the club. Some have hailed the victor hedge-funder John W Henry as Liverpool's "knight in a shiny suit", observes The Daily Telegraph. But has the fallen giant of English football merely swapped one set of rapacious American owners for another financier cast in the same mould?

Henry's career bears some resemblance to that of the ousted co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. They borrowed to buy Liverpool for £220m in 2007 and took it to the brink of bankruptcy. Like Hicks, Henry made his money in hedge funds before branching into baseball club ownership. Yet in terms of running a successful franchise, they "inhabit different planets", says The Daily Telegraph. Henry, 61, has proved "a revelation" since his sports outfit, New England, bought the Boston Red Sox in 2002. Under his "scrupulous direction", a team thought to have been jinxed by "the curse of the Bambino" ever since its fateful decision to sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1918, has won two World Series.

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